21st Garden

A day late I know. The garden seems to have become a tangled mass of weeds and plants that have gone to seed, I know how they feel. The weather has been unpredictable at best, it usually rains on the days when I’m not busy doing other things. I might be making excuses too, I’ve been in a not gardening place. :(There is some produce to see however:

Yes that’s an apple, one of two which magically appeared!

The peas have got a second wind, while the beans are intent on world domination.

The sunflowers we planted are almost as tall, they add a splash of colour and hopefully will provide Autumn food for the birds.

Talking of wildlife, it seems a rather enthusiastic leaf cutter bee has taken a couple of rooms in the bee hotel.

The leaves are now turning brown.

I seem to be flower mad this year, the snap dragons are beautiful and popped up in a whole range of colours.

Good morning everyone, where has the past month gone? I’m pleased to report that I am on my fourth week of jogging, I don’t run for long yet, but it is getting a tiny bit easier. Any way back to the garden.

The peas are finished, I have harvested the last of them and put them in the freezer to enjoy over the winter.

The first beetroots are ready too, those got made into a delicious salad.

The first of the early potatoes are up, we will eat them baked in their skins with chilli this evening.

All around the garden we still have plenty going on.

Raspberries

Bell pepper

Dwarf French beans

More French beans

The young beans make a wonderful salad along with roasted hazelnuts.

Tomatoes

Blackcurrants

Do you remember the photo of the beans last month? Well the runners have taken to the sky, it is actually 6 inches above the trellis!

Runner beans

Runner bean flower

Courgette / zucchini

Last month I showed you all how beautiful the rose arch is looking, the pond has matured beautifully too.

I’m a couple of days late, it isn’t always easy to get onto the computer, life and Mike get in the way.The ‘P’ garden is doing well.

Pears

Peas

More peas

Potatoes

We have a possible “funny vegetable” entry.

Weird courgette.

The onions and carrots are looking promising, although who knows what is actually going on below the surface. For all we know, the carrots are presently being munched by carrot fly or slugs.

The tomatoes are starting to flower, possibly a bit late, but without a greenhouse, I think there is very little more we can do.

The dwarf french beans and runner beans have made an appearance.

Dwarf

Runner

The new raspberry bush has got its first fruit, much earlier than the old one which we practically destroyed trying to move it from spot to spot (Mike’s idea!). It has started to recover now, but we thought it was dead and bought a replacement.

Raspberries

Blackcurrants

Strawberries

Quince

The Japanese quince is looking good, hopefully it will hold on to the fruits and I will be able to make quince jelly again.The garden is maturing beautifully. Who remembers this wooden arch from 2011?

I was going to put a photo up in July, but it looked so beautiful this morning I decided to show you all a month early, I might just repeat myself next month. The photo is obviously from the opposite side as we put a shed up on the concrete pad.

The borders are full of flowers that the bees love.

Foxglove, with bee runway.

Love-in-a-mist / Persian Jewel / Nigella Damascena

The bee hotel now has eleven little bees waiting for next spring to arrive, with adults still making their homes in it. I love my garden, I just hope I can hang on to it.

The past few days have been so wet here that I feared I might not be able to post photos of my garden, but I awoke at 6 a.m. to beautiful sunshine. By half past seven I had put the bedding in the wash and taken my photos, I never know which photo to put first or even if I should have an order, so we’ll stick to pot luck.

Capsicum pepper and aubergines

Broccoli

The peppers are now in individual pots. The only surviving broccoli is currently in a pot / trough too, the plants transplanted to the vegetable patch have been eaten along with the cauliflower.

Vegetable patch

Potatoes

Ripe radishes

The vegetable patch is looking amazingly green despite the losses. The potatoes are sprouting and will soon need to be banked up with more soil. It is the first time I have grown radishes and I am amazed by how quickly they become usable, we have already used them for radish slaw, potato and radish soup eaten some in a salad and even given some away.

Beans, French and Runner

Just waiting in the house we have beans growing. I don’t want to put them out until they are a tiny bit more established and are able to withstand our changeable weather and munching wildlife.

Pears

Plums

Strawberries

Blackcurrants

The fruit trees and the strawberry are showing signs that they will be providing food too. Of course that is only possible with the help of hard working bees. It was with the solitary bees in mind that we purchased a small insect hotel last year. As directed we placed it on a wall that was warmed by the early morning sun.

Insect hotel

Imagine my surprise when I looked this morning and saw:

Bee resident

What do you mean you can’t see it!

Morning!

We have a lodger!Changing the subject, well I can’t really call Mike a lodger (although…….), Mike is much better than he was. The dialysis doesn’t seem to be knocking him back as much as it used to. Fingers crossed it stays that way. (I’ve probably jinxed myself now!)

Yes it is the 21st again. I haven’t blogged for over a week, there hasn’t been much new to tell you all. Mike is settling into the early morning routine, it does seem to help not losing a whole day. It has meant I have had a lot of time pottering in the garden, although it doesn’t seem to make things grow any quicker!Nature will have her own way and despite an equal amount of love and attention the apple tree refuses to blossom, although it isn’t due to appear yet, there is no sign that there is going to be any flowers yet again this year. The plum and pear are both resplendent, the pear especially so.

The pear and plum.

Plum blossom

Pear blossom

The apple isn’t alone in being bare, the fig has yet to wake up properly from its winter slumber.

Fig 2015

It was pruned back in January, but as you can see it is certainly much bigger than when we planted it back in 2011.

Fig 2011

The vegetable patch now has some green, and not just weeds, but peas, onions, radishes and somewhere in the weeds carrots. They really are tricky things to spot until their feathery leaves are well established.

Broccoli waiting to be pricked out.

In seed trays around the house and garden we have cauliflowers, aubergines, tomatoes, courgettes (zucchini), chillies, squash and capsicum peppers waiting for the warmer weather of May.

Will a bit of luck, who am I kidding, with a lot of hard work and a bit of luck, it is hopefully going to be a good year for produce. Next month I should have a lot more to show you. Hopefully fruit corner will look more impressive too!

Good news, Mike was discharged Thursday evening. It was good to feel him next to me in bed, I feel much happier when I can hear him breathe. He came home with a bucket full of tablets, vitamin D, calcium, magnesium and blood pressure meds. He says he feels great, well much better than last Tuesday, I don’t think he’ll be running any marathons though.

We are just taking things easy, pottering around, waiting for the hospital to make the next move. Waiting for the fistula appointment. Waiting to see if Mike’s bloods show an improvement in the levels of his blood chemistry, some going up, some coming down? Waiting to see if Mike can actually wait for them.

Today we will start to sow the seeds for this years vegetable garden. I will be boring you all once more with my 21st Century garden photos again soon!